He drew 13 vertical lines in the snow and then drew 7 short lines under each. Blood Extinguisher watched for a while, thinking the idiot was not doing any efficient calculations, not even basic multiplication.
"... before you continue your calculations, I have a question… have you ever been to school?"
Idiot stopped marking lines, and his palms were sweaty for drawing many lines in a very short time.
"No."
"So, you don't understand multiplication or division ?"
Idiot looked confused. It wasn't surprising as he had struggled to survive in dark alleys since childhood. He had a keen sense for money but not for arithmetic for being uneducated. He might know "the sum of three 3 is 9" but not "3*3=9."
The sword, Blood Extinguisher, felt a bit embarrassed, looking at the boy, not knowing what to do. Only the baby girl in the alley blinked, smiling at Idiot's face, cooing.
"Alright, kid, give me temporary control of your right arm."
"…"
"Just temporarily. Unless you actively and formally draw me to kill someone, you're still in charge without my control. So now I need your permission."
Blood Extinguisher laughed mockingly.
"I just want to make your calculations quicker. I don't have the patience to watch you count lines to calculate."
After a long stare, the boy's right arm suddenly moved on its own.
His right arm, holding Blood Extinguisher, danced on the snow! His fingers juggled flexibly, outlining the exchange formula and doing the math swiftly and clearly.
"Done. The exchange rates are 1:6.204 and 1:7. You have 13 gold coins, which makes 91 silver coins with the higher rate, plus 2 you already have, totaling 93 silver coins. Here are the numbers. Now, use your brain. Is Baron Frode a kind fool or a cunning fox plotting something?"
Idiot's previously puzzled look vanished, replaced with his usual coldness. He decisively concluded after a brief thought.
"hypocrite, villain."
"Oh? Why? He actually gave more silver coins to those who exchanged with him than the national rate. Isn't he a great, kind man?" Blood Extinguisher sneered.
Idiot wrote "Baron" in the snow, and added "hypocrite" and "villain" in brackets.
No one does things clearly against their interest, and there's no free lunch. If someone's too kind and offers money for you, the sweeter their smile, the more you should resist. Because the bloody knife is often revealed ready to gut you before the free lunch is swallowed.
"If it were just about the exchange, at first, the Baron seems at a loss. But if think more broadly and long-term, the evil of the consequences becomes clear."
"Haha, kid, you seem to talk much when reasoning. I hope it's not the only time you talk much. Now, what consequences will follow?"
"…"
"Okay, okay, I won't complain anymore about you being too speechless. Just tell me please, Mr. Idiot."
"The money and goods in this town cannot be traded and circulated with other cities due to the huge taxes brought by the special pact. In other words, after this baron's large exchange, the number of gold coins in the town will be decreased greatly, in contrast, the number of silver coins will increase significantly."
"Interesting, Boy, you got the point. Go on."
"Since the vast majority of people have exchanged gold coins for silver coins, the town will use silver coins as the main currency for transactions. Everyone can earn more silver coins with the baron for the exchange rate of 1:7. If I were a seller, I would not be willing to sell my goods at the original price before the exchange."
"Why?" The Blood Pupil shone with evil and excitement.
"Because there are suddenly so many silver coins on the market! As a town that cannot import and export with the outside due to the high tax, all the resources and goods in the town now basically can only come from the town's own productivity. Therefore, the materials and resources in the town are almost stable and even fixed. "
"For example, the number of cows in the town will remain almost unchanged since it takes several years for a cow to grow up from birth but the wealth of many people just increased overnight. "
"Therefore, if cows are sold at the original price, more people will be willing and affordable to buy than before because of their suddenly increased wealth, which will eventually lead to a shortage of supply of cows. How can those merchants let this opportunity pass? When the supply of goods is greater than market demand, it's the best time for them to increase prices and sell without worrying about not being able to sell."
"Finally, I will not be willing to sell my goods at the original price, but will raise the price to cope with the sudden increase in the number of silver coins and the decrease in the actual value of silver coins when purchasing items."
After hearing that from the beggar, Blood Extinguisher seemed happier and more excited.
"Haha, and all prices in the whole town will increase. Such a big price increase will completely flatten the surplus caused by the 1:7 exchange rate. For those who exchanged, this means they are not getting any benefit at all. "
"Hahahaha! Don't you feel so funny, boy? Then what will happen if gold coins there continue to decrease and the silver coins continue to increase unreasonably?"
"It will become...well...a situation where many, many silver coins are needed to buy things that could be bought with only a few silver coins before. "
"...So embrassed. I was so happy chatting with you that I forgot that you hadn't been educated. Although you understand the concept, you don't know the term. Well, let me tell you, kid, this phenomenon is called 'inflation'."
"..."
The idiot nodded and continued.
"Because of this 'inflation', silver coins will become much less valuable and untrustworthy. Its amount into the market will become much larger. But the larger its amount, the less valuable it will be. It'll become a vicious cycle."
"The worst thing is, with ridiculously increasing silver coins in such a trade-blocked town, the trust and real value of silver coins may crash and be worthless because it will be much harder for people who use silver coins to purchase things, compared with those who purchase things by gold coins."
Blood Extinguisher interrupted him and explained.
"That's right. The amount of silver is surging while the gold one hasn't increased but shrunk greatly in the market, which means that the real value of gold coins is definitely surging. When all factors of two different currencies are equal, the real value of a currency with a larger amount in the market will naturally become less than that with a smaller amount in the market. Rare things are always expensive and have higher values in the market. That's how the market works."
"If this continues, soon, the exchange rate will fall below the baron's 1:7. And due to the impact of policies and taxes, this town cannot conduct commodity transactions and currency exchanges with other cities, which can cause the exchange rate later far below the 1:6.2 common standard. As long as the baron controls the gold coins in his hands, the exchange rate is entirely up to him. When the exchange rate of reaches a level that satisfies him, he will then exchange all the gold coins back for silver coins. In this way, even if he needs to pay a high tax to take his property out of this town, he can still earn lots of money."
The devil sword sneered with cruelty.
"Money can make profits. Even if you just play with the currency itself, you can increase the value of the property in your hands. But It's just for the rich. However, for most people, after exchanging their gold coins for the silver ones, they are likely to suffer catastrophe. Afterall, more they exchange, tougher their lives will be."
"..."
The Blood Pupil widened suddenly with thrill and blood-red lights.
"I expect to stay here to see the riots in this town soon~. Hahaha, are you also looking forward to that?"